Commer
Commer FC van, c. 1968
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| Industry | Automotive industry (Commercial vehicles) |
|---|---|
| Fate | purchased 1967 by Chrysler UK |
| Successor | Dodge – Chrysler UK |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Defunct | 1979 |
| Headquarters | Luton, England |
| Products |
Commer FC Military vehicles Buses |
| Parent |
Rootes Group as part owner of Humber Limited Chrysler UK Peugeot |
| Subsidiaries | Karrier |
Commer was a British manufacturer of commercial vehicles from 1905 until 1979. Commer vehicles included car-derived vans, light vans, medium to heavy commercial trucks, military vehicles and buses. The company designed and built its own diesel engines for its heavy commercial vehicles.
This business belonged to Commercial Cars Limited a company incorporated in September 1905 by directors H C B Underdown, barrister and director of Direct United States Cable Co with H G Hutchinson a director of Royal Exchange Assurance to manufacture: commercial cars, omnibuses, chars-a-bancs, fire engines and every kind of industrial vehicle. In 1920 it was described as the first Company to specialise in the manufacture of internal combustion industrial commercial vehicles. In order to go into volume production a site was bought in September 1905 at Biscot Road, Biscot, Luton. Construction of extensive new workshops began on the five acre site which was mostly complete by late 1906. Commercial Cars became a member of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in August 1906. It was one of the first manufacturers of commercial vehicles in the United Kingdom, its speciality being the Commer Car.
At Olympia's Commercial Motor Show in March 1907 Commer exhibited a motor-bus chassis with a 30–36 horsepower engine and a gearbox invented by Mr Linley, the works manager. Dog-clutches made the change rather than the spur wheels which remained in constant mesh. As well as the bus chassis Commer displayed a char-a-banc for thirty passengers and delivery vans being run by a substantial enterprise.
A new "large and powerful" lorry, E43, registration BM 787, took part in the The Great Commercial Motor Trials in September 1907. It also had a constant mesh gearbox (Comer (sic) slogan—'dogs which bite with a click'). Unladen weight was (3.7 tonnes) 3 tons 13 cwt, the engine had four-cylinders, its output was 33 horsepower at 800 rpm. It had four forward speeds and was driven by side chains. Length 20 feet (6 metres), width just over (2.1 metres) seven feet and height (1.76 metres) two inches under six feet. The platform was (3.6 metres) twelve feet long. The newspaper noted that a Comercars "chassis" was transporting passengers at Widnes.
Production of the first truck, the 3-ton RC type started in 1907. Their first bus was made in 1909. With the outbreak of the First World War the factory turned to the manufacture of military vehicles for the British Army, and by 1919 more than 3000 had been made.
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